We've a Kenmore (Whirlpool) HE washer and like it a lot. My wife wouldn't go for a front-loader so it's a traditional top-loader design. But it still uses the HE detergent, doesn't have a center spindle, uses less power & water, etc. Nice unit. It seems to spin up in stages. You hear several surges as it boosts the spin speed. Probably to gauge the load balance. In the end, laundry is spun enough that it contains less water so even the dryer (which is a fairly plain unit except for large capacity) doesn't work as hard/consume as much to operate. The only downside is that, due to the clothes being spun until they've less moisture left, the laundry can get a little more wrinkled if you don't move it to the dryer fairly quickly.
Our major appliance drama for July came when we decided to replace our dishwasher. The old one was loud so we could only run it overnight or when we were leaving the house. It also only did a fair job at cleaning. And, a few times, it leaked. So we set out to replace it. New unit criteria: stainless steel tub, tall tub, energy/water efficient, quiet.
We settled on another
Whirlpool re-badged as a Kenmore Elite. White as it goes with the other appliances and I couldn't see spending another $100 for a stainless steel exterior that show fingerprints and smudges.
Ordered it on July 4 with a July 8 delivery/installation date. Of course Sears uses contractors for delivery & installation. Wednesday comes and the delivery/installer shows up on time. He disconnects the old unit & hauls it to his van. He unloads the new unit and, of course, it's damaged. Dented in the rear far enough to intrude into the tub. Several calls and at least 9 or 10 less-than-helpful Sears people later, it's determined that the best course of action is to cancel the order and place a new order. Supposedly they cancel it over the phone but cannot place the new order as I don't have a Sears card to pay for it. Total BS.
Now I have a hole under my counter. The cat's excited about a new play area. I'm not.
After looking at alternative sources online and finding them to be either far more expensive or quoting 3-5 weeks for delivery, I give up and go into the Sears store that evening (July 8 ) to order it again. This time with a Saturday (July 11) install. The contractor calls on Thursday to confirm that Saturday is the date (but not to confirm the time .. that'd still be the traditional night before call on Friday). But I'm not home and don't get home 'til late as I attended a professional association meeting. Supposedly they called my cell phone as well but there were no voicemails and no missed calls.
So, getting the voicemail they leave at home, I call Friday and they say that since we didn't talk on Thursday they can't do the install before Monday. At this point I'm pretty pissed and we end up agreeing that they'd refuse the install so it'd go back to Sears to be assigned to someone else. A few hours pass and it's now after 4PM. Someone from Sears calls and says they're trying to get an alternate contractor but they've left for the day. She said she'd keep trying as I maintain my insistence on a Saturday delivery as that was what they set up and,as this is a replacement for an already messed up install I want it done as agreed upon.
Saturday morning, I get a call from the original contractor saying they'd like to try and get it delivered that day for me. Obviously they got read a riot act by their management for refusing the service as the lady was about as apologetic as she could be. I agree as I had yet to hear from Sears. 15 minutes later Sears calls and says they're still trying to find someone so I let them know the original people are going to do it.
Saturday afternoon they show up and it gets installed w/out any problems. The new dishwasher works great and is very quiet.
But Sears, well, I can't say I'll be using them for major purchases anytime soon. Sears doesn't seem to be able to pull their head out of their a** when something goes wrong.
- First, no one knows the procedure.
- Second, I, the customer, have to do way too much to get it taken care of.
- Third, ordering a replacement necessitated another trip to the store for no real reason. Even though the store is only 10 minutes away it's still a step I shouldn't have to take.
- Fourth, delivery and delivery/install and delivery/install (by contractor) are all separate groups for them and they don't appear to talk to each other at all. From a consumer standpoint that's idiotic and annoying as I will basically never get the right people the first time I call.
- Fifth, every step of the process is full of delays. Sear's systems are slow as are the people that use them and the processes (I'm assuming they actually have processes..) induce delays.
- Sixth, they have a group called OneSource that's supposed to handle these things and get problems solved. But consumers aren't given the number by default (you can find it online, though).
- Seventh, while it takes them 4 seconds to charges your card, it's taken a week so far and there's still not been a credit back to my account for the cancellation. For my credit cards, yeah, I can wait a bit. But I used a debit card for this so Sears is holding on to almost $1200 of my personal liquidity right now.
We like Kenmore appliances. Yes, they're re-badged stuff from other manufacturers but getting mid-level or higher they are rarely junk. But I can't see myself buying anything from Sears ever again that requires delivery or installation services. I may look at Kenmore when reading reviews but will opt for the OEM version from another retailer instead, even if the price is higher.
Upsides to it all? Well, as mentioned the new dishwasher works well. We also should receive a $50 gift card from OneSource for our trouble. The $10 haul-away charge for the old dishwasher was on the first order but not the second so I expect that to be refunded back.
And in Illinois, if you have a dishwasher installed, there's no sales tax as it's considered a permanent fixture in your home. There is tax if you just have it delivered or take it home yourself. It's an odd loophole in the tax code and does not apply to washer/dryers and refrigerators (not sure about stoves). So that, coupled with a rebate I've got to send in, will cancel out the delivery/install charges.
